Kennel Club Terminates Agreement With City Of London Corporation Over Buckinghamshire Dog Bans

30 September 2014 11:00

Dog being walked off lead

The Kennel Club has terminated an agreement on responsible dog
walking it signed with the City of London Corporation in 2011,
following the Corporation's recent decision to introduce dog
control orders (DCOs) at Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire that
include provisions which the Kennel Club believes are
unjustified.

Within the agreement, the City of London agreed to 'strive for
local consistency, balance and proportionality in the management of
dog walkers by working in partnership with local
authorities'. It is the Kennel Club's view that there was a
substantial and intentional departure from this principle at
Burnham Beeches by the Corporation, as it completely dismissed the
objections of the Kennel Club as well as the primary authority for
DCOs, South Bucks District Council, and the statutory access
authority, Buckinghamshire County Council, by imposing a year-round
ban on dogs being walked off lead across 59 per cent of the
site.

Furthermore the City of London's officers failed to highlight the
very clear concerns and objection of Dogs Trust to the proposals in
the most recent committee report to members, and instead falsely
stated that the charity was fully behind the proposals.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: "We are extremely
disappointed that the need has arisen to terminate the agreement
with the City of London Corporation, but we could not continue with
it given that they are in direct breach of their principles to
remain balanced and proportionate and to ensure that dog walkers
feel welcome when using the centuries-old public open space that
the Corporation controls.

"Having developed good relationships with local dog walkers who
use the site on a daily basis, we share their concerns that the
City of London is not taking a balanced approach, and is
unnecessarily targeting dog walkers because of the views of a very
small minority.

"Throughout the consultation process and discussions held with the
City of London, their motives for the dog control orders seemed to
change a number of times, further showing that there is no clear
and justifiable reason for such an extreme restriction on dog
walkers, especially when Government advisors, Natural England, have
explicitly said the off-lead ban is not needed to protect
wildlife.

"The Kennel Club has never had to cancel an agreement like this
before, and it is a great shame that it has not been a
success. We signed a very similar agreement with the Forestry
Commission in 2005 which continues to work very well, with any
restrictions on Forestry Commission land staying balanced and
proportionate, which is a far cry from the restrictions at Burnham
Beeches."

The Kennel Club will continue to work with the City of London on
promoting responsible dog ownership through organised education
events - and remains poised to oppose any similar unjustified moves
to restrict long-standing access - at other open spaces it controls
such as Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest.